Coming Out Day

Wed, 11 Oct 2017

National Coming Out Day (NCOD) is an internationally observed civil awareness day which takes place on October 11, 2017. On this day people are celebrating individuals who publicly identify as bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender - coming out regarding one's sexual orientation or gender identity being akin to a cultural rite of passage for so called LGBT people. The holiday is observed annually by members of the gay community and their straight allies.

The National Coming Out Day was founded in 1988, by Dr. Robert Eichberg, his partner William Gamble, and Jean O'Leary to celebrate the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights one year earlier. After a media push in 1990, NCOD was observed in all 50 US-states and seven other countries. The holiday is observed in a wide variety of ways: from rallies and parades to information tables in public spaces.